RJ Custodio

Rediscovering Herself

Sergeant Summer Guerrero (Reserve, Enlisted), talks about job role/experience/benefits - experience at BCT, AIT, battle assembly. Army had refined her and made her more disciplined.

SGT Summer Guerrero: Believe it or not, basic training really wasn't that difficult. I'm a very athletic person, so the physical part really didn't bother me any. My challenge just happened to be that I had never shot a weapon. I ended up being great at it!

I've always been a motivated person, but the Army Reserve took that and made it so much bigger. AIT is Advanced Individual Training; my AIT was a fire academy.

My very first Battle Assembly just happened to be a live burn. So, I approached one of the instructors and asked if there would be any possible way for me to be able to go in. And he said he'd take me in.

I was amazed what fire could do. Right then, I knew. I mean, my heart just lit up...I knew this was what I'm supposed to be doing. This was what my whole goal in life was to be a really good firefighter.

For me, Battle Assembly means that I'm going to be with my brothers, my guys. We are really close. We have the mix between the U.S. Army Reserve, and we have the mix between being a firefighter. So the camaraderie is very big.

I'm a disciplined person so when I joined the Army Reserve, it refined me. It made me even more disciplined. My advice to other women that want to join the Army Reserve is that you can do it. It takes a lot of determination and strength, but everybody has it inside.